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Amazon optimization

Optimizing Your Books for Amazon Keyword Search

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…e a number of free books cluttering the first page of a particular keyword string search. Let’s say you’re looking at “Suspense mystery books.” You notice lots of books on free promotion, which will always be at the top of the list. Don’t bother to look at their sales rank, because it’s not an accurate depiction of how this string is actually doing. Instead, keep going down the list until you find a book that isn’t on a pricing promo. Don’t worry…

Where to Begin: The Search for the Inciting Incident

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…e beginning, what beginning do we start with? Writing guides often use the term inciting incident, meaning the event or incident that propels a character or characters out of their status quo existence, igniting the plot. But locating that inciting incident isn’t always that simple, since often there’s more than one. In fact there’s always more than one, with an inciting incident lurking behind every inciting incident, a breadcrumb trail of inciti…

Throat Clearing: When Your Story Opening Is in Search of Itself

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…perextended metaphor, then proceeds to describe her spiritual condition in terms of (a) a nut in a bolt, (b) a knife blade, (c) a cliff’s edge, overlooking flames, (d) an empty skull, and (e) something that “circles.” Having exhausted nearly every available metaphor, the narrator throws her hands in the air, declares the whole affair Kafkaesque, tosses two more metaphors our way (one reptilian, one insectine), then ditches the metaphor parade in f…

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The Long-Term View: 3 Exciting Mind Shifts for Author Entrepreneurs

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…g publishers. 3. Think direct: the rise of indie and artisanal. I love the term “indie author,” as it resonates with the same energy as indie film and indie music: artists who create without big labels, who are perceived as more original than the blockbuster names. The shopping public are moving toward supporting artists directly, frequenting farmers’ markets, funding Kickstarter projects, and buying direct from craftspeople online. There’s been a…

author website

Before You Launch Your Author Website: How to Avoid Long-Term Mistakes

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…ite through Google Search Console. You can connect Google Search Console and Google Analytics for improved reporting. While Google Search Console is more advanced than what most authors will be able to understand, it still offers functionality you’ll want over the long term. In the short term, use it to send you alerts when Google has problems properly indexing/accessing your site for search purposes. For those of you who’ve dealt with website mai…

long term self-publishing

Long-Term Marketing Models for Self-Published Authors

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…lumn at Publishers Weekly, I address the many indie authors who seek short-term solutions to their book marketing challenges. Ultimately, when you study what fuels the success of established self-published authors, it has nothing to do with buying marketing packages or publicity help—rather, such authors adopt a long-term strategy that pays off over time. I write: There’s no shortage of marketing and publicity services that promise to help self-pu…

short term campaigns

How to Run Short-Term Social Media Campaigns

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…nly ten days out. The key to success is planning. The Four Phases of Short-Term Campaigns 1. The Planning Phase. When planning a short-term campaign, start with a calendar. I suggest you plan all your launches and short-term campaigns on an annual cycle, if possible. Whether you have a planning calendar application or just use a spreadsheet or Word doc, an annual plan makes sure your campaigns will not overlap and burn out your fans. They need a b…

The Birds Tree by ploop26 / DeviantArt

Why Self-Publishing Is a Tragic Term

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…d another layer of isolation? Many authors have wisely moved away from the term “self-publishing.” I’ve seen words like “independent” or “indie” publishing tossed around. They help characterize this kind of publishing as an independent business model, not necessarily a solitary pursuit. The very use of the word “self” belies a tragic individualism and reliance on “self” in publishing today. To speak of “self-publishing” is a linguistic mistake tha…

Sarah LaPolla Kim Lionetti Establishing Long Term Writing Career

How to Establish a Long-Term Writing Career: Insight From Two Literary Agents

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…agents Sarah LaPolla and Kim Lionetti about strategies for building a long-term writing career. As with all my Q&As, neither agent knew the other’s identity until after they submitted their answers. Sangeeta Mehta: So many writers dream of receiving a large advance with a book deal. The assumption is that, the bigger the advance, the more money the publisher is likely to put into marketing their book so as to guarantee robust sales. Is there any t…